Early draft selections

[jeremy1215]

IMO, We need someone like Jerryd Bayless in this draft, and trade Tinsley. We should also look at drafting DJ White in the second round if he falls that far. That would set us at two positions. We probably would let White come off the bench for a year or two, but Bayless could start right now, and we would have two completely different styles of point guards for starter and backup, and thats what we need. Right now we have two bad defenders at point guard, so Bayless would improve that a bit with his athletecism. White IMO has really good potential, he could be a more athletic Udonis Haslem if he got a 15 foot jumper. I like the guy, and it would be welcomed to have a good IU player on our team. It might take a year or two, but him and Danny would be a good 3/4 combo. After those two selections, we would have a great young core to build around of Bayless, Danny, Shawne, DJ, and Ike. The problem is, 4 of those are forwards, so I would look at trading Ike or Danny for a SG or Center. Don't forget though we could get a SG or C by trading Jamaal or JO, but we all know both of them will be gone in a year or two, so we will have to wait and see what we can get. Who are you guys wanting to target in this years draft? We will probably be picking in the 10-20 range, so be realistic.

[bballpacen]

I am all for getting White in the second round... If we can move Ike. I like Ike, but I just dont see him contributing any better than DJ could. And I still think that we could get good value for Ike still. I would not say that DJ is a piece to build around, but I think that he will be an alright backup. I am just concerned that his height will not let him stick around like he would if he was a few inches taller.

[CableKC]

IMO, We need someone like Jerryd Bayless in this draft, and trade Tinsley. We should also look at drafting DJ White in the second round if he falls that far. That would set us at two positions. We probably would let White come off the bench for a year or two, but Bayless could start right now, and we would have two completely different styles of point guards for starter and backup, and thats what we need. Right now we have two bad defenders at point guard, so Bayless would improve that a bit with his athletecism. White IMO has really good potential, he could be a more athletic Udonis Haslem if he got a 15 foot jumper. I like the guy, and it would be welcomed to have a good IU player on our team. It might take a year or two, but him and Danny would be a good 3/4 combo. After those two selections, we would have a great young core to build around of Bayless, Danny, Shawne, DJ, and Ike. The problem is, 4 of those are forwards, so I would look at trading Ike or Danny for a SG or Center. Don't forget though we could get a SG or C by trading Jamaal or JO, but we all know both of them will be gone in a year or two, so we will have to wait and see what we can get. Who are you guys wanting to target in this years draft? We will probably be picking in the 10-20 range, so be realistic.

All these things are easier said then done. Although I don't disagree with you that if Bayless is declaring and is avaialble at whatever spot we pick....I don't think that we are going to end up with a pick high enough to pcik him ( I think we will end up with a 11th to 17th draft pick ) and I don't think that Tinsley will be traded anytime soon. Although JONeal will likely be traded....I just don't think that his trade value is going to be high enough to fetch us a 10 top draft pick.

Although I would prefer to draft a PG.....there doesn't appear to be any solid PGs that are sure-things in the teen's where we will be picking. I'm hoping that Thabeet falls to whatever draft pick we choose. He maybe raw offensively, but he appears to have the tools that we need to help with our poor interior defense.

[jeremy1215]

With the recent reports that the team is fed up with Tinsley, I think he will be traded this summer at the latest. And if JO is traded, we don't need Tinsley because he will be 30 soon so he isn't a guy we want starting on a young team. DJ will most likely be taken in the late 20's and I think he is a starter in this league in a few years. Ike should be traded for someone like Delonte West or a SG with that kind of skillset IMO.

[bballpacen]

With the recent reports that the team is fed up with Tinsley, I think he will be traded this summer at the latest. And if JO is traded, we don't need Tinsley because he will be 30 soon so he isn't a guy we want starting on a young team. DJ will most likely be taken in the late 20's and I think he is a starter in this league in a few years. Ike should be traded for someone like Delonte West or a SG with that kind of skillset IMO.

You act as if it is a cake walk to move Tinsley . That is still near next to impossible at this point, even with his play this year. There are no biters out there, or he would be gone, and I dont see that changing anytime soon.

I see DJ being taken in the middle of the second, and possibly in the begging of the second round at best. I am sure that we could arrange some way to pick him up, if Bird wants to...We could always trade the rights to Stanko, and get a late first rounder....

[Archi-stu@BSU]

i think it would be great if we could nab Eric Gordon...he would create "hometown hero" emotion in some fans and would draw more people into the fieldhouse.....

btw..i was on Eric's travel team in sixth grade...The Rim Rattlers....he was a fifth grade starter and I was the white boy who sat the bench until we were up by 30....

[bballpacen]

i think it would be great if we could nab Eric Gordon...he would create "hometown hero" emotion in some fans and would draw more people into the fieldhouse.....

btw..i was on Eric's travel team in sixth grade...The Rim Rattlers....he was a fifth grade starter and I was the white boy who sat the bench until we were up by 30....

There is no realistic way that we nab Gordon, just wont happen. We are not that bad of a team, nor do we have anyone that is as valuable as a pick that would land EJ

[JarrettJackSG]

I wonder if we could offer ike, granger, foster, and etc to nab Gordan =)

I, personally, hope that we draft someone for our weak backup PG position, who will be our PG of the future. DJ Augustin sounds like a nice pickup. Darren Collison sounds decent as well.

[jeremy1215]

I wonder if we could offer ike, granger, foster, and etc to nab Gordan =)

I, personally, hope that we draft someone for our weak backup PG position, who will be our PG of the future. DJ Augustin sounds like a nice pickup. Darren Collison sounds decent as well.

I like Bayless more than Collison and Augustin. But if those were the only two available I would rather have Augustin than Collison. I really don't see a starter in Collison for some reason, maybe a decent backup but thats all I think he'll be.

[APerna]

We have no idea what draft pick we are going to end up with...or in what shape we'll be in...there are 39 games left.

[jeremy1215]

I just wanted you guyses opinions on who you'd like to target with a mid first rounder. Obviously we are looking for either a PG, SG, or C.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Tyler Hansborough, Ty Lawson, or Wayne Ellington.

All should be in our draft ranger.

Hans is a smaller Jeff Foster with an offensive game.

Ty would be the fastest PG in the NBA and is getting a nice 3 point shots. Runs the fast break quicker than a cheetah.

Wayne is starting to look Reggie Miller like hitting some insane clutch shots. Starting to become a great player.

All are positions of need. All are proven players. All will be good in the NBA.

[mizzoupacers]

I figure that short of a lucky Ping-Pong ball, there's no way the Pacers will be picking any higher than maybe tenth or so.

At #10 or lower, the best thing to do is usually to take the best player available, regardless of position. Although I would hope that we would not take another small forward.

I really, really, REALLY want a point guard.

PGs who could be available to us, according to Draft Express's latest projection, include Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, and D.J. Augustin...all lightning quick, all good college players, but they are pretty small and I have to wonder whether they can guard people in the NBA.

My sleeper pick is Eric Maynor, junior, VCU. I love the guy's game. He has good size, and a great basketball IQ from what I can tell. (I'd love to see the Pacers get a big, SMART pg.) Something about him reminds me of Vern Fleming, but maybe that's just me.

Maynor is projected as a second-round pick at this point, but that stuff always changes as we get closer to draft night. I wonder if he will come out this year.

[jeremy1215]

I have a feeling though that Bird wants to take a chance on a C. I like Hasheem Thabeet but a lot of people say he is too slow, doesn't try hard enough to improve his game, and is a real liabitlity on offense (the people that said that are here). So I really wonder if he is a good prospect, he is 7-3 and is a great defender from what I hear, but if he is just another DeSagana Diop then I really don't want him, but I would hope he would turn out like a healthy Marcus Camby. He has the defense, but not the mid range shot Camby has. So if he would work on his work ethic (Kareem Rush says Hi) then he would get a lot better.

[CableKC]

I have a feeling though that Bird wants to take a chance on a C. I like Hasheem Thabeet but a lot of people say he is too slow, doesn't try hard enough to improve his game, and is a real liabitlity on offense (the people that said that are here). So I really wonder if he is a good prospect, he is 7-3 and is a great defender from what I hear, but if he is just another DeSagana Diop then I really don't want him, but I would hope he would turn out like a healthy Marcus Camby. He has the defense, but not the mid range shot Camby has. So if he would work on his work ethic (Kareem Rush says Hi) then he would get a lot better.

From what I have read, the main issue that most people ( most notably JonathanG from DraftExpress ) have with Thabeet is that his offensive game is limited...if not raw. However, most people agree that Thabeet is pretty quick for a player of his size. When you are thinking of a "slow 7 footer", you were probably thinking of Roy Hibbert. Most people agree he is pretty slow.

As I mentioned before.....the way that JO'Bs offense / defense works IMHO...although it's always nice to have a Big Man that can man the paint and score at a very high rate ( like a 2 or 3 year younger version of JONeal )....I think that it is WAY more important to have a Defensive Big Man that can rebound, defend the paint, deter perimeter players from drivng to the hoop and ( most notably ) can run up and down the floor. This is because we take so many shots that often miss....that we need a guy that can help pull down Offensive rebounds while acting as a deterrant for opposing teams from driving to the hoop.

The only requirement that I would have for our Big Man on the offensive end is that they do not have "hands of stone" when it comes to catching and scoring. As far as I am concerned.....our Big Man in the middle should only score on the 6 to 10 times our Guards/Forwards pass to them.

[CableKC]

I figure that short of a lucky Ping-Pong ball, there's no way the Pacers will be picking any higher than maybe tenth or so.

At #10 or lower, the best thing to do is usually to take the best player available, regardless of position. Although I would hope that we would not take another small forward.

I really, really, REALLY want a point guard.

PGs who could be available to us, according to Draft Express's latest projection, include Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, and D.J. Augustin...all lightning quick, all good college players, but they are pretty small and
I have to wonder whether they can guard people in the NBA.

Unless those PGs are defensive stoppers at the Guard spot and is the next coming of Chris Paul......after seeing Hinrich abuse Diener yesterday night, I really would prefer to stay away from short PGs.

[ahartleyvu]

DJ White? IU homerism or what? Not an NBA player IMO.

[Scoot McGroot]

DJ White? IU homerism or what? Not an NBA player IMO.

Eh, he's more a useful player at the backup PF position, a la a Glen Davis or a Reggie Evans level player (but minus the random testicle grabbing).

[jeremy1215]

-= original quote snipped =-


Unless those PGs are defensive stoppers at the Guard spot and is the next coming of Chris Paul......after seeing Hinrich abuse Diener yesterday night, I really would prefer to stay away from short PGs.

Don't blame just Diener, Tinsley was bad too. Besides, from what I saw, Hinrich had a hand in his face most of the time when Diener was on the floor. And you'd better believe I was watching Diener's every move.

[bravesatl]

dj augustin is the logical pick for where we'll be drafting and what we need...

DJ White will go late 1st round...